Dictionary

urn en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɜːn/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɝn/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna.

Meanings

1. A vase with a footed base.
   • Mary Fibbs and all her friends start making coughing noises whenever I come near them, and then they all giggle and Mary says Grandfather mixes his cough medicine in the urns on top of the gate posts after dark with his umbrella, and now Jessamy! 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 47:
   • A rustic, digging in the ground by Padua, […]found an urn, or earthen pot, in which there was another urn. 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematicall Magick. Or, The Wonders that may be Performed by Mechanicall Geometry. […], London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Sa[muel] Gellibrand […], →OCLC:
   • His scattered limbs with my dead body burn, / And once more join us in the pious urn. 1700, [John] Dryden, “Canace to Macareus”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
2. A metal vessel for serving tea or coffee.
3. A vessel for the ashes or cremains of a deceased person.
   • So draw him home to those that mourn ⁠In vain; a favourable speed ⁠Ruffle thy mirror’d mast, and lead Thro’ prosperous floods his holy urn. 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
4. (figuratively) Any place of burial; the grave.
   • Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn, / Tombless, with no remembrance over them. 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
5. (Roman, historical) A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a half, wine measure. It was half the amphora, and four times the congius.
6. A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca.

Forms

Deriveds

tea urn · lachrymal urn · urnfield · cinerary urn · urnal · urnless · urn moss · knife urn · urnful · inurn · urn tree · urnlike

Translations (55)

id perabuan (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · nb urne (a vase with a footed base) · fr urne (a vase with a footed base) · hu urna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · no urne (a vase with a footed base) · mk урна (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · hu urna (a vase with a footed base) · nb urne (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · ru у́рна (a vase with a footed base) · la urna (a vase with a footed base) · bg ча́йник (a metal vessel for serving tea or coffee) · it urna (a vase with a footed base) · fi uurna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · cmn 甕 /瓮 (a vase with a footed base) · el τεφροδόχος (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · sh жара (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · mk урна (a vase with a footed base) · fr urne (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · xfa urna (urna) (a vase with a footed base) · es urna (a vase with a footed base) · cmn 骨灰罈 /骨灰坛 (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · yi אורנע (a vase with a footed base) · es urna mortuoria (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · nn urne (a vase with a footed base) · ru ча́йник (a metal vessel for serving tea or coffee) · fi uurna (a vase with a footed base) · tr kremasyon çömleğı (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · eo urno (a vase with a footed base) · de Urne (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · pt urna (a vase with a footed base) · de Teespender (a metal vessel for serving tea or coffee) · de Urne (a vase with a footed base) · sl žara (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · pt urna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · nn urne (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · el υδρία (a vase with a footed base) · ca urna (a vase with a footed base) · mk ќуп (a vase with a footed base) · bg у́рна (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · hy սափոր (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · es urna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · bg у́рна (a vase with a footed base) · ast urna (a vase with a footed base) · no urne (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · sh žara (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · ru у́рна (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · is duftker (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · cs urna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · la urna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · pl urna (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person) · id pasu (a vase with a footed base) · de Heißgetränkespender (a metal vessel for serving tea or coffee) · de Kaffeespender (a metal vessel for serving tea or coffee) · ru кофе́йник (a metal vessel for serving tea or coffee) · grc λάρναξ (a vessel for ashes or cremains of a deceased person)

urn en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɜːn/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɝn/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To place in an urn.

Forms